A friend of mine put in the cord type in her newly built home and she told me it took almost a YEAR for the cords to straighten out without any kinks!! WOW. She loves them now because she likes the look of the pendant, your eye is drawn to the pendants not the metal. I think they look great also : ) She also has a large window behind the island, if that helps.

i keep thinking i will get the rod type for the very reason saskatch.girl mentioned. All the corded ones I've seen are kinked and that would drive me nuts for a year or so.

I have pendants with old-fashioned black cloth cords from rejuvenation.com and those cords were straight within one day. The dangling has not been an issue for us.

Here's a pic of mine with cord.

I had ordered them with a rod (to match rods in DR fixture). But they came like this, and we just didn't really care enough to wait for a new order.

It was very convenient to be able to move them out of the way when granite was being installed. (and will be again when it gets replaced). Also, we can adjust the height infinitely (as long as we keep going shorter :>). There are a kink or two, but I never really noticed until I just went to take this pic. I like how it makes them less obtrusive, but it's a personal choice- no right or wrong.

I don't quite understand why a pendant with a cord would have a kink. Gravity should pull it straight. All of our pendants were straight from the moment we put them up.

Yes, they will dangle for a couple of seconds if you hit your head against them. But there is no further dammage. What if you hit against a solid rod? I could see the potential for more dammage to your head or to the ceiling if there is no "give" to it.

BTW if you have a vaulted ceiling the cord is the only option.

When I went to look at lighting the girl in the showroom showed me many pendants that had been hanging for months and months and they all had not-quite-straight cords.

maybe it depends on the material in the cord itself?

My ceilings are low, by the way, 7 ft. 8 inches. I'm still not clear what is the best choice for me. I think I need to stop online shopping and go to the actual lighting store.

RAEHELEN, I love your pendants! Can you share where they came from?

Sally

I went with a pendant on a fixed rod, because I like the look and, more importantly, my pendant hangs over our corner sink and between two large windows. I didn't want it to start swinging like a kite in the breeze when the windows are open, which is at least half the year out here. How close your pendant light is to a door or window is something you should definitely factor in, IMHO.

{{gwi:1596009}}

Klutzy tall spouse here--any dangly fixtures must be loose in my house or they are doomed.

lynn, thanks for bringing up windows!!! ours won't be right next to a window, but close enough that my decision is made for rods. we do open our windows to enjoy the breeze often when the weather permits and often also use the whole house fan which would definitely make them sway. that would drive me nuts too. thanks!!!

I wonder if the rod's are adjustable? I have to look into that. The nice thing about the dangly ones, are that they are fully adjustable.

I love both looks, but I do think the fixed rods are more appropriate in a period kitchen. I have pendants over my island with silvery cords and I love them. They were hanging straight in just a day.

Nepool,

Thanks, it's hard to gauge sometimes when you're just going from a picture. From this picture, I assumed there was an ORB rod. In actuality, it is a silver wire cord, with a silver colored rod that goes up a few inches from the glass. The wire is very stiff which is why it has a kink (for those that wondered why the 'cord' had a kink in it). I don't forsee any swinging in the breeze...

Some of the other pendants we looked at come with a number of rods that screw together to get the length you want. Of course you have to want one of those multiples, ie every 16/20/24 inches, whatever length the rods are.

Here is a link that might be useful: Alico- bringing your world to light

I have the rods - I was okay with either a narrow cord or a rod - the ones I decided I wanted just happened to have a rod. I definitely didn't want joints in the middle of the rod though - I wanted seamless. That created a bit of a complication - that you wouldn't have with regular height ceilings. I have vaulted and staggered height pendants - so I had to get each one exactly the right length. My first plan didn't work because I couldn't get one long enough without an extension and connector. Which would have looked goofy - two with a nice seamless rod - one with a connector. So I changed the plan a bit to avoid that.

No kidding! Of course, after 10 hours of shopping to pick out the pendants, the company doesn't offer a coordinating chandelier for over the kitchen table. Now I have to spend 10 more hours picking a chandelier that will not clash with the pendants I picked! Ugh!!! I am totally kitchen obsessed and I don't want to be. How do designers pick all the stuff for remodels so quickly? I guess they just go with it, and don't obsess over every little thing.

I think good designers have this info already in their heads - they know which book has which light fixture that will work in what house.

Anyway, the pendants that I ordered come with a multitude of rods so that you can pretty much customize the length. My cheap ones that I have up now came with 3 12" lengths, so we were a bit limited.